Sasha's Bears

A Bear family

24 August 2026

Many patients come to Sasha's Teddy Bear Hospital with an fascinating story - including the most recent one, who is in his late 50s and is known variously as Bear or Teddy Bear.

His original owner passed away at a young age, but his mother kept Bear for all the intervening years. The original owner's sister then decided to have him restored as a surprise present for her mother.

The most important operation was of course to re-attach Bear's head. I also added stuffing to his his chest, arms and feet, replaced his foot pads, and re-embroidered his nose, smile and claws.

Next, I re-created Bear's ears, using for the back of the ears the reverse of his discarded foot pads - these were made of the same fabric as the rest of him. For the inside of the ears, I used the same material as for his new pads, so it all looked a piece.

Finally, I managed to get Bear's old growler to work again. It was the kind I had never seen before (I thought it looked a bit like one of Winnie the Pooh's pots of HUNNY), but all I had to do was replace its old disintegated fabric cover with a new similar one!

19 August

Due to family commitments, I could not admit many patients to my Hospital in July and August, but there was one whose treatment took a really long time. Keith, over 70 years old, is a lovely bear, but on arrival he was definitely showing signs of his age, and of having been loved to bits.

He reverted to his original colour as a result of a good gentle clean, after which I spent days patching and darning holes all over him. I gave him four new paw pads made of vintage-look rexine - the best choice for a distinguished bear of his age. I topped up the embroidery of his nose, and gave him a new growler. The look of gratitude on Keith's face when he was discharged was heart-warming.

My next patient, Bobby, was a lot younger, and an ardent West Ham supporter. Football related or not, he had quite a few injuries to deal with. I fixed all the holes, underlined his fur with new fabric, completely re-stuffed him, and gave him brand-new eyes. Bobby looked and felt much better, and went home happy - almost in time for the new season.

18 July

I have treated one very special patient this summer - a Mickey Mouse from 1992. He is of great sentimental value to his owner, as he was a present from his late and much loved grandmother.

Mickey was quite poorly an in need of all sorts of transplants as well as sartorial repairs, but fortunately his owner managed to find a donor - another Mickey Mouse from 1992.

From this kind donor, our Mickey received new boots, gloves and trousers, a new bow tie, and quite a quite a bit of black skin. With this, I managed to restore Mickey's head, and then repainted his eyes to give him 20/20 vision back.

Thomas James B.'s Mickey before treatment Thomas James B.'s Mickey with donor Thomas James B.'s Mickey after treatment

29 June

Not all patients come to Sasha's Teddy Bear Hospital for extensive treatment and have to stay for days or weeks. Some come for one specific procedure - like young Pip, who complained that he could no longer see very well at all.

His eyes were indeed really scratched, so I just replaced them with new identical ones, and Pip was finally able to see his young owner as clearly as on the day they first met.

An earlier patient, 60-something Monkey, a visitor to Britain, spent much longer in my care. I gave her a good clean, patched her arms and legs, re-stuffed her, and touched up her eyes. Monkey was collected by her owner's son, and very much looked forward to being reunited with her owner, who had had her since she was a little girl.

24 June

I had several patients at my Hospital recently whose owners were adamant that any treatment they received should not alter their character. This is very much in line with my preferred approach, so I was glad to help.

56-year-old Peter had some large holes patched, many smaller ones darned, and received all new stuffing. I also cleaned him, polished both his eyes and secured back in place the one that he had kept after it fell out, and re-embroidered his nose and smile.

Mr. Puppy, aged 43, who lived with his owner since her early childhood, regained his original colour when I cleaned him. He also received new stuffing, had his holes and loose stitching mended, and some threadbare areas reinfoirced from the inside. He definitely looked much livelier when leaving hospital.

Blue Ted, at 66, was the oldest of my recent patients, and he too, his owner insisted, had to maintain his character. Even with new stuffing, cleaner fur, mended holes, and re-embroidered nose, he was very much recognisably himself when collected after treatment.

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